Several machines, devices and methods in the prior art including U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,735,297, 2,186,081, 2,403,820, 3,108,517, 4,329,081, 4,395,156, and 4,609,303 all deal with the problem of laying new road surfaces or grading over old ones. To make roads safer, over the years people and government have installed such safety devices as road signs, traffic lights, railroad crossing arms and guard rails to prevent peoples vehicles from leaving the road. Although the guard rails are most often put on the more travelled asphalt roads, the edges of roads where the guard rails are put in often are constructed of dirt and gravel. Over the years, dirt and gravel builds up and causes problems. First of all, roads are usually designed so there is a high spot in the middle and low spots on the edge to help drain water and melting snow from the middle of the road to the edges. Dirt and gravel accumulating underneath the guard rail interferes with the natural drainage process of the road; Excessive water on the road can make the roads slippery and dangerous, and also cause long term water erosion damage. Another dangerous effect of the accumulated gravel is that it causes the effective height of the guard rails to become less, as the gravel under the guard rail can actually form a ramp. Still another adverse effect of the accumulated gravel, although not a safety hazard, is that the gravel and run-off water combine to form a perfect element for growing unsightly weeds.
Previous art has done very little to solve the problem of accumulating gravel under guard rails. In the past, road construction workers used shovels and rakes to remove and smooth the dirt and gravel, making the task very long and cost inefficient. The object of the current invention when attached to a skid steer loader is to allow a user to quickly remove dirt, gravel and weeds from underneath guard rails. By removing the excessive dirt and gravel from underneath the guard rail, water is free to drain from the road and the gravel ramp caused by excessive dirt and gravel is destroyed, thereby raising the effective height of the guard rails, resulting in safer roads and highways. The current invention also uproots the weeds that have already grown, allowing for a more pleasant driving experience.
The current invention is of a size that is compact enough to fit under almost all guard rails, yet large enough to remove excessive gravel without making several drags under the guard rail. If two guard rail posts do happen to be so close as to make head-on removal of accumulated gravel and dirt impossible, the skid steer loader can be driven at an angle so the current invention will go underneath the guard rail at an angle and still be able to remove excessive dirt and gravel.
The final object of the current invention is to provide a fast and cost efficient way to remove excessive dirt and gravel from underneath guard rails.